AVENUES OF APPROACH TO
LOCATING A MISSING PERSONDeveloping Your Locating Skills
By David A. Mollison

Let's face it! The location of a missing person is the number one specialization
in the United States for the private investigative industry and the hugest
market for the investigative industry. If you develop you skills in all
avenues of it, you have no problem. However, many investigators aren't using
all avenues opened to them to locate missing persons quickly and inexpensively.
Given enough time and funds, with the right skill any missing person can
be found but that's not usually the investigator's problem. The problem
is, the professional investigator needs to learn to utilize his knowledge
and skills to locate the missing person the quickest way possible and the
least expensive way possible as the investigator is often restricted to
a certain amount of time and funds. It's simple math. Those investigators
who can locate the quickest way and the least expensive way will stay in
business and those who take too long and spend too much money on tracking
down a missing person will likely not stay in business. We have boiled down
the skills and knowledge to locating a missing person down to eight avenues
you have at your disposal. You need to develop your skills and knowledge
in all eight areas in order to accomplish your goal of locating quickly
and easily.

COMPUTER SEARCHES:SSN
Trace,National Identifiers,
Voter Registration, Different Types
Of Forwarding Address Searches (3) Neighborhood Inquiry Searches, Different
types of DMV and Driver License Searches, Tag And Vin Searches, UCC Searches,
Full Credit Bureaus And FCRA Restrictions, 400 Plus National Sources For
Computer Searches. If even one of these items seem foreign to you, you'll
need to develop your knowledge of exactly what types of computer searches
are available to the private investigator and how to get them on your computer
screen quickly and inexpensively.

UTILIZATION OF CD ROM AND OTHER FREE SOURCES:
It's simply economics and simple money. If you have CD Rom database libraries,
you have inhouse free databases you can search. You will not be paying and
per search charge for your search. CD Rom disks with name and address information
are available nationwide for telephone book listings, voter registrations,
Social Security Administration Death Claims, and DMV information. In some
states like Florida, you can purchase statewide vehicle registration on
micro fiche.

CALL TRAPPERS:Call
Trappers is a new high tech investigative trick private investigative
agencies are starting to utilize. Word is sent out in various ways that
your subject needs to call a special toll free number because he one a prize
or has a refund check waiting. When the subject calls the toll free number,
the number he is calling from is captured. Once you have that information,
all the investigator needs to do is turn the telephone number into an address.
Click Here For More Info!

PUBLIC RECORDS: LOCAL: The investigator
needs to know each and every country court house and city record he can
search by hand to help locate a missing person and know exactly how to access
that information the quickest way. Orange County Florida just put many of
this record indexes online. Nine times out of ten, you will find an address
or at the very least further leads by performing searches at the county
courthouse. Civil and criminal records, small claims, voter registration,
vehicle registration, boat registration, business DBA, probate, real property,
tax rolls, marriage, UCC, these are all records that can be checked for
address information and leads at the court courthouse.

PUBLIC RECORDS: STATE: State records
are another vital area of information gathering. State vehicle registration
and driver license records, professional licensing these are all records
you need to have quick access to.

PUBLIC RECORDS: FEDERAL: Knowing federal
records sources trends to be a weak avenue in many investigative agencies
but there are dozens of sources you can check. The federal government keeps
address information on all airplane pilots. Records are found with name
and address information for any person owning a boat over 35 feet. Federal
courthouse records can be a goldmine. Locator services for military personal
and people in federal prison are sometimes helpful. It's the investigator's
job to know where to look in federal records just like you do in local records.

The above knowledge and skills are basics. They are paper sources. The stuff
below can be considered more advanced and deal with people sources. Some
times you have to take the leads you developed in the paper sources which
are people and interview them to complete your investigation.

BEATING THE STREETS:Too many investigators
these days give up once they pass the computer sources and public records
sources but nine times out of ten, they have developed indirect people sources
by searching all the records they have. A minister found in marriage records
who married the subject, a real estate agency who sold the subject's home
for him, an attorney found in criminal and civil records, a creditor found
in UCC listings, a former employer and a former neighbor all likely know
something about your subject that you don't which might lead to the subject's
address and some of these sources might have a general area or actual address
of your subject. Ask them, and you may receive. Don't ask, and you could
go out of business quickly.

PRETEXTS AND INTERVIEWING:Interviewing and pretext skills need to be developed. Proper approaches
in interviewing methods are needed and, yes, you'll need to develop good
pretext skills. The best way to think about pretexts is this. Think of ways
to ask for the information in none threating manners. You want to appear
harmless. The subject has information you need and you have to develop the
right approach to ask for the information. This is asking intelligently.
But don't get the wrong idea. Every time you ask for information, don't
think you'll always have to use a pretext. Only use them when you feel you'll
need them.

DEVELOPING YOUR SKILLS IN THESE EIGHT AREAS:

So, we have broken down the avenues of locating a missing person into
eight general areas.

As a professional investigator, you'll need to develop your skills in all
eight areas. How To Find Anyone Anywhere is the top selling book on on this
subject. How To Investigate By Computer will provide you with detailed descriptions
of the computer searches available and how to access them. The Investigator's
Guide To CD Rom Technology gives you the knowledge you need about CD-Rom.
The P.I. Catalog's Public Records section gives you the sources for county,
state and federal public records sources. A general study of all of the
investigative manuals and practice gives you the street knowledge you need.
The expanded selection of books on interviewing and pretexts arms you with
investigative skills that will help you crack more cases.